While it will not surprise Galway readers that an Independent-Left candidate made the final cut in Donegal - due to the county’s continual ‘No’ line on almost everything governmental - the election results in Galway West told a similar story. In fact, while the establishment parties are working to claim a majority, the detail in the transfers tells a different, and quite revealing, story.

WITH 10 days to polling day, Galway West has become something it has never been before - unpredictable. For years it returned two FF and one each for FG, Labour, and a PD/Independent. Even the electoral upheaval of 2011 almost bypassed the constituency, with FG the party to take two, as opposed to FF.

Stagnant is a word that has been used to describe Fianna Fáil's support levels over the last five years. While it has recovered slightly since the Election 2011 massacre, where it fell to 17.5 per cent, opinion polls have shown it stubbornly stuck around the 18 to 20 mark.

As we approach the middle of January, all eyes in the political world turned to what promises to be a hectic political year in 2016. At its heart is the General Election, shortly to be called, but we will also see elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly, a possible referendum on Britain's EU membership, and a period of commemorations to mark the centenary of the Easter Rising.

For the last 12 to 18 months, Labour Galway West TD Derek Nolan has been regarded by pundits and political anoraks as the constituency's 'dead man walking', not so much 'the lad most likely to...' but rather the 'absolute certainty' to lose his seat.

Dep Brian Walsh’s departure from politics this week, and consequent withdrawal from Election 2016 is both a curse and a blessing for Galway West Fine Gael, and will be seen as an opportunity, perhaps even a salvation, by Labour and Fianna Fáil.

For many years Galway East was known as the dullest and most predicable of constituencies, reliably returning the same three TDs. Population growth and boundary changes saw the constituency gain a fourth seat in 1997, however, and this has given rise to some heated battles between the big two parties as well as seeing the emergence of Independent and Labour challenges.